[email protected]

In a message dated 12/21/2003 3:05:48 AM Central Standard Time,
[email protected] writes:
What are some good books for an 8 year old (That reads pretty good) to read?
Can he just read Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Yo books and Game Manuals and be OK?????
I would like, in a perfect world, for him to be reading the Classics! haha!
Maybe someday!?!
At that age, my kids liked books like: the "If You Lived" series, and the
Magic Tree House series (about kids time traveling to different historical
times). My son started getting into Star Wars books a lot, I think he was older
than 8 when he started. I don't think there's anything wrong with reading
Yu-Gi-Yo, etc. There are lots of ways that people who are more experienced than me
could probably suggest that you could help your son make Yu-Gi-Yo into a
classical study of some kind...

The way I got my kids into classics is by reading to them. We read Aesop's
Fables, classic children's poetry, hand picked fairy tales (some of these are
so graphicly gross and depressing, that we skipped them), and lots of folk
tales from different countries (again hand picked, usually). Also, short stories
by Tolstoy, O. Henry, Twain, etc. The Just So Stories by Kipling are great
for an 8 year old! There are tons of great Newbury books, but many of them
have death as a major theme, which my kids didn't really like at that age,
except in smaller doses. There is also Swiss Family Robinson, and a host of
stories like that. I found that the kids loved classics if I read to them, but the
vocabulary was often too much for them to do on their own. By reading to
them, we could discuss what they didn't understand, and they soon grew to love
discussing the ideas in the book, and their ideas about those ideas. This has
become a really important and wonderful ritual for us - it takes more time than
if they read on their own, but it's worth every minute. They are now reading
classics on their own, but I'm still reading to them, again, above their
literacy level - now we're into adult classics. My son was skeptical at first,
but I didn't continue reading something that was obviously boring him (he hated
"Hiawatha" but laughed his head off at "Just So Stories") - I was willing to
drop stuff without finishing it if there was little interest, and keep looking
for something that would grab him.

Cory


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Tia Leschke

> I don't think there's anything wrong with reading
>Yu-Gi-Yo, etc. There are lots of ways that people who are more
>experienced than me
>could probably suggest that you could help your son make Yu-Gi-Yo into a
>classical study of some kind...

Why? (Unless *he* wanted to)


>The way I got my kids into classics is by reading to them.

I did this with my kids. They can understand books that are way beyond
their reading level. I used to bring home a stack of books from the library
that I thought Lars would like. I would read him the blurbs about the
books, and then he'd pick. Only rarely would he decide he didn't like the
book. And only once did I give up on one. (Ivanhoe)
Tia

zenmomma2kids

>>There are lots of ways that people who are more experienced than me
could probably suggest that you could help your son make Yu-Gi-Yo
into a classical study of some kind...>>

Probably not on this list, though. ;-)

Anime, and it's written form manga, have been a big source of reading
pleasure for Conor. He retells me the stories and some of them are
really complex and historically and mythologically based. (Japanese
history and mythology of course.) It's easy to find Pokemon or YuGiOh
books at any major bookstore. Be sure to check out unfamiliar manga
beforehand though. Some of them have quite adult themes and
illustrations.

Right now Conor, at age 14, reads manga, comics, Wired magazine,
Popular Science, reference books he picks up off our bookshelves late
at night, graphic novels and the occasional series of fantasy novels
like Harry Potter, Artemis Fowl or His Dark Materials. When he was 8
he was labelled as learning disabled in school and struggling through
reading lessons. When I pulled him out of school he finally was free
to come to reading in his own time. He liked comic books the best to
start.

>> The way I got my kids into classics is by reading to them. >>

We enjoyed lots of classics together too. My dd Casey is 9, almost
10, and I still read to her everyday. She has an incredible sense and
love of literature and can read just fine. She still prefers me to
read to her though. I won't give it up till she makes me. :o)

Life is good.
~Mary

kayb85

> >> The way I got my kids into classics is by reading to them. >>
>
> We enjoyed lots of classics together too. My dd Casey is 9, almost
> 10, and I still read to her everyday. She has an incredible sense
and
> love of literature and can read just fine. She still prefers me to
> read to her though. I won't give it up till she makes me. :o)

When I tried to read classics to my kids they usually said, "This is
boring. Do we have to sit here and listen?"

Sheila

Wendy Carr

Thanks for all these reading ideas!!! He went through all his books and
found 3 Magic Treehouse books! I had no idea he had some!! He packed them in
his backpack for our trip to Texas today!
Wendy


>From: Fetteroll <fetteroll@...>
>Reply-To: [email protected]
>To: <[email protected]>
>Subject: Re: [UnschoolingDiscussion] Re: Reading suggestions
>Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 04:16:25 -0500
>


Wendy Carr
When the first baby laughed for the first time, the laugh broke into a
thousand pieces and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning
of fairies. - Barrie
Mom to Austyn(8) and Caitlin(4 months)

Proud To Home-school!

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Grab our best dial-up Internet access offer: 6 months @$9.95/month.
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Fetteroll

on 12/21/03 5:13 PM, zenmomma2kids at zenmomma@... wrote:

> Be sure to check out unfamiliar manga
> beforehand though. Some of them have quite adult themes and
> illustrations.

Fortunately they do have ratings to give you some hint. You *definitely*
can't go by the look of the characters!

But just because something's rated 8+ doesn't mean it's of interest to an 8
yo. The rating indicates what's lacking more than what's there. And the
Japanese are more comfortable with nudity than Americans.

You might try Shonen Jump. It's a great big fat 300 page monthly manga with
5 different on-going manga in it for only $5 ($2.50/issue if you subscribe).
(One of them is Yu-Gi-Oh.) I've even see it in our grocery store magazine
rack but definitely any larger book store will carry it (though it's late in
the month and they might be out). It's rated for older teens I think but
that's because it's full of fighting. But the stories are well crafted. I
actually read it to Kat and we're both enjoying it.

Joyce

zenmomma2kids

>>You might try Shonen Jump. It's a great big fat 300 page monthly
manga with 5 different on-going manga in it for only $5 ($2.50/issue
if you subscribe).>>

Sounds like a good subscription for Conor. I'll have to check it out.
We buy some manga, but they can be expnsive! Luckily our new library
stocks lots of titles. :o)

Life is good.
~Mary

zenmomma2kids

>>He went through all his books and found 3 Magic Treehouse books! I
had no idea he had some!! He packed them in his backpack for our trip
to Texas today!>>

They are actually an ongoing story. They're easy to follow out of
order, but there's a kind of mystery/task that the main characters
are doing if you follow the series through. He might like to check
them out of the library starting with volume 1 at some point. Casey
loves them and we own 'em all.

Life is good.
~Mary